What Lies Within Part 1
by unicornkaskade
Summary: A man is discovered in a field, with no memories of his past. Follow his journey as he works to save a halidom, piece together his past, and forge a new future. First part covers from in-game chapters 1-6. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FE, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY.
1. Prologue - Southtown

**A/N: Hey guys! this is my first fanfiction, I started reading some and felt like why not give it a try myself. I'll be writing this as I progress through the game, so bear with me if sometimes updates are slow! Please R&amp;R, as this is my first time trying my hand at this, constructive criticism is appreciated! Flaming, I guess, is okay, if you feel that strongly, but if you do, please give me suggestions as to how to improve! This IS a community, and I'm sure you'd all want the same thing if you were me. With no futher ado, please enjoy! **

**-unicornkaskade**

* * *

The midday sun shone bright over the grassy plain, accompanied by a light breeze. Each blade of grass seemed to be dancing, swaying in the wind, a rhythmic, mesmerizing back and forth that never seemed to end. An azure haired man stood in the grass with his companions, a yellow-haired girl a couple years his junior in a plain yellow dress, and a fully armored, chocolate-haired knight mounted on his steed, wearing a serious look on his face as he scanned the surroundings.

"Chrom, it's so nice today! Why can't we just stay for a bit and eat lunch here?" The girl seemed to have made up her mind without putting much stock in how her blue-haired brother would respond.

"Yes, Lissa, I think a short break would be in order before we head home." Chrom sat down next to her, running his fingers through the waltzing grass and enjoying a rare moment away from the hustle and bustle that came with being the Prince of a halidom. He closed his eyes as he lay in the field, and let his mind wander to the few fond memories he had that did not involve fighting and life-and-death scenarios.

"Milord! I believe you should see this."

The knight's call jolted Chrom from his reverie. As he trudged over, slightly frustrated over the lost moment of bliss, he instinctively palmed the hilt of his sword, Falchion. The girl followed, and they let out small gasps as they neared the great knight. In front of them lay a man, fully clad in dark robes.

Suddenly, the mystery man's eyelids began to flutter, and it became clear that he was waking from his slumber. As he opened his eyes, he heard voices above him.

A girl's voice: "Chrom, we have to do something!"

A man's voice in reply: "What do you propose we do?"

"I..I don't know!"

At this point the man's eyes had completely opened. Chrom addressed him directly, chuckling. "There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Give me your hand." The man accepted the hand, revealing a purple, six-legged brand on the back of his palm, and stood up. He was about Chrom's height, a little shorter, and with a mop of light blue hair, in addition to the black robes he was wearing.

"You all right?" Chrom asked the strange, eyes filled with concern. It wasn't every day that you found a man passed out in a field at midday.

"Y-yes, thank you, Chrom." The stranger suddenly stopped, eyes widening as the blue-haired man's name sprang unbidden from his lips, this man whom he had clearly never met before. Chrom seemed to take it in stride.

"Ah, then you know who I am," Chrom asked without missing a beat. Most people HAD heard of him, being the prince of Ylisse and all.

"No..actually, I..it's strange...your name...it just...came to me," the stranger managed to mumble out. He himself was mystified by how he had managed to pull the man's name out of nowhere. Chrom wasn't exactly a common name, and trying to gather his thoughts and speak at the same time was overtaxing his just-awoken brain.

Chrom raised an eyebrow, signaling a mild disbelief, but decided not to press the issue with the clearly drowsy stranger.

"Hm..curious. So, do you have a name?

The mystery man replied again. "My name is..err..what?" For some reason, he couldn't even remember his own damned name! He thought to himself_, by the gods, what is wrong with my head?_ Somehow, he didn't even know where he was, much less how he had gotten here. He wondered to himself how he had gotten in this situation, while vaguely following the conversation going on around him. The girl was saying something about amnesia, but it was the knight's reaction that startled the man back to attention.

"It's called a load of pegasus dung. We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?" The knight was fuming, and in the blink of an eye his silver lance was out and its tip was pointing accusingly at the newcomer. The robed man broke out into a cold sweat; he had no idea of his whereabouts, who he was, or anything, really, and now he was being threatened by a fully armored knight who looked capable of easily skewering him without a second thought?

"B-but, it's the truth! I swear! Gods, please don't run me through," was the only counterargument his panicked mind could muster. Luckily, Chrom stepped between them, conferring until the knight finally agreed with the plan to take him back to town to ascertain his true allegiances. They took off down the path, presumably towards the town, and the robed man was quick to follow. He couldn't say why, but he felt a distinct pull towards them. He shrugged it off as an effect of Frederick's glare, which followed every step and movement he made.

* * *

As they continued down the path, the man tried to collect his thoughts. He was so focused that he completely failed to notice any of his surroundings, save for the occasional grunt of anger from the knight behind him.

"What will happen to me," he asked Chrom suddenly, alarmed at this prospect. He hadn't done anything wrong, or anything that he could remember. What if they just threw him into the dungeons and he was stuck there forever with no knowledge of why?

Chrom let out a quick laugh as he replied. "Ha! We just need to establish that you're not an enemy of Ylisse, and then you can do what you want to your heart's content.

"Is that where we are? Yli-"The man stopped as he was suddenly cut off by a violent snort coming from behind him. He wasn't sure if it had come from the horse or the man riding the horse, but that was soon clear.

"You've never heard of the halidom? Ha! Someone pay this actor. The furrowed brow is especially convincing…" Frederick noted as he inched his lance closer to the man once again. Chrom sighed, turning again to talk to the man.

"Frederick, peace. This land is known as the halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the Exalt. I suppose proper introductions are in order..My name is Chrom, but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here," he gestured at the girl in the yellow dress, "is my sister, Lissa." At this, Lissa responded with a stomp on the ground and a well-practiced pout.

"I am NOT delicate! Hmph. Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you! Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

Something Lissa had said caught the robed man's attention.

"Shepherds? You tend sheep...in full armor?" His face held a quizzical look, wondering what kind of sheep they were herding. _Oh gods, I'm stuck somewhere with no memories, no knowledge of anything, and on top of that, apparently the livestock here are so dangerous that they need to be dealt with in full armor? Just what is happening to me?_

Chrom laughed at the look on his face. "Heh, it's a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here."

Frederick let out another legendary snort as he acknowledged the jibe, "A title I shall wear with pride. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution. I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

The stranger put up his hands in sympathy. "I understand, sir. I would do no less myself. My name is Azemar. Huh, I just remembered that. How odd. I suppose that's one mystery solved."

Frederick narrowed his eyes at him again. Azemar had the feeling that Frederick was about to tackle him to the ground out of suspicion, but before that could happen, he heard Lissa shrilly yelling, "CHROM! Look, the town!"

Azemar caught a whiff of a burning smell in his nose, and he knew what he would see when he looked in the direction that Lissa was pointing at. Chrom cursed under his breath, running off with Lissa and Frederick in hot pursuit. Azemar stood there for a second, indignantly yelling after them, "What about me?" When it was clear that they were preoccupied with the situation, Azemar decided to follow them. Why, exactly, he could not say, but he felt as if it was the right thing to do.

Azemar caught up to the trio just as they were about to take on the bandits. It was a small band of seven, and it was clear who their leader was. He was in front of the church, which lay across the bridge over what must have been a sparkling blue river. It was now tinged with a maroon color that could only be one thing. Azemar shuddered as he thought about what that substance was.

"Azemar? What are you doing here?" Chrom turned around to see that the newcomer was not another bandit.

Azemar himself was puzzled; he could not explain what exactly had spurred him to come, only that his instincts had told him to follow. "I..I'm not certain myself, but I know my way around a fight, if you'll have me." Chrom grunted his assent, and the battle began.

One of the bandits overextended, not realizing the range that Frederick's horse and lance could cover, and found himself with a lance growing out of his stomach. _One down_, Frederick thought to himself. Suddenly, Azemar stopped.

"Wait!" The other three looked at him.

"What is it? We don't have much time," Chrom yelled as the next small group of bandits made their way over to the four of them.

Azemar quickly revealed to them (and to himself) that he could somehow size up the enemies at a glance; he could see what weapons they were wielding, their strengths, the flow of battle..it was almost like he was playing a game of chess, and he could see exactly where and how to strike the enemies best.

"Frederick and Chrom, you need to stay ahead between those two." Azemar pointed towards two large carts that seemed to be abandoned market stalls. "Since we're outnumbered, we want to bottleneck their troops and keep the fighting to one on ones, two on twos and the like." Frederick grunted his approval, and steered his horse towards that point. Chrom hesitated a bit, before smiling as he realized the wisdom of Azemar's words.

"Lissa, can you fight?"

"Not really, but if any of you gets hurt, I can get you guys feeling better in a jiffy! We'll see who's delicate THEN, Chrom."

Azemar collected this information, then made his decision. "Alright, you stay with me behind Frederick and Chrom, and we'll support them from the back. It's a small group so we should be able to see if any try to sneak around, and we'll take care of them before they get close enough to do damage."

"Err..if you don't mind my asking, Azemar?" Chrom managed to ask as he almost carelessly thrust Falchion into an approaching bandit swordsman. _Two down. Five more. _"What weapon are you using?"

"Ah. I'll be using this," he replied with a glint in his eye, pulling out a dusty tome from his robe. Chrom's face took on a questioning look, before he understood the implications of that book. Azemar could use magic! This fight suddenly felt a lot easier. The bandit leader sent two more swordsmen over, only to have them quickly meet their end at Frederick's lance and Falchion's tips. His eyes widening, the bandit leader seemed afraid to advance; instead, he seemed content to wait in front of the church. _Three more._

_I guess we'll have to take the fight to him_, Azemar thought. Frederick and Chrom seemed to echo his sentiment. The four of them began moving across the bridge, towards the church. As the leader saw them approaching, his eyes widened for a second in fear, but it passed unnoticed as he called upon false bravado to serve him.

"Here, sheepy sheepy! Come to the slaughter," he roared as Chrom and Azemar approached. Azemar was slightly faster than Chrom and had the additional benefit of a ranged attack, and got the first strike on the leader.

"Thunder!" A yellow bolt jetted out from the tome and into the bandit's chest as he staggered back, clearly hurt by the blow, but not defeated.

"Heh, you think that's enough to stop me? I'll show you real strength," he yelled as he reared back and threw his hand axe with all of his barbaric might and fury. Azemar could only stand there in shock; how had this man taken his spell straight to the chest and lived?

"Azemar!" A blue blur tackled him before the axe was to about to strike his head. He did not escape unscathed, however; a good portion of the axe sliced cleanly into his shoulder, prompting a scream of agony. Chrom got up, and they made quick eye contact, Azemar acknowledging what Chrom had done for him. In no time at all, Chrom had covered the short distance back towards the bandit, who had another hand axe equipped and ready to throw. Azemar closed his eyes, not wanting to see how this would end, and when he opened them, the bandit leader was kneeling on the ground, Falchion embedded in his stomach.

With the battle over, Azemar sighed and lay down to rest. He had only been lying down for a few seconds when he heard someone running over, and before he could open his eyes, a heavy _thwack_ had him alert and awake instantly.

"What were you thinking? You just stood there and watched the axe flying towards your face! Now let me see your shoulder.." Of course it was Lissa. She _had _mentioned that she could heal..he felt an odd tingling sensation over the gash in his shoulder, and suddenly it wasn't screaming in pain anymore. He experimentally rotated his arm; either he had been extremely lucky and avoided any structural damage, or Lissa was one hell of a healer.

Chrom walked over, offering his hand. "I guess that's the last of them. For now. But anyways, Azemar. After seeing you fight, I have a proposition. How would you like to join the Shepherds?"

Frederick cleared his throat, about to voice disapproval, but Chrom simply held a hand up to cut him off. "Frederick, we could use someone with Azemar's talents. Would you really have us lose a tactician of his abilities?" The knight opened his mouth to protest, but could see he was going to lose the argument, and therefore let the matter rest.

* * *

The villagers had come out of hiding in their buildings, and at the sight of their heroes, insisted that the four of them stay the night, offering rooms and food and whatever else their humble lives gave them to spare. Lissa was all ready to take them up on their generosity, but her brother and Frederick rejected the offer with, reasoning that although they would love to, they really needed to be heading home. As they left the gates of the city, the villagers gathered to bid farewell to their heroes.

"Alright, ready to go, Azemar? The capital isn't far." Chrom turned one last time to wave towards the adoring crowd.

"Yea, let's go," was all he could say. His mind was still processing all that had happened to him in the few hours that he had been awake, and Lissa's pouting and stomping next to him was definitely not helping.

* * *

**And there's my first chapter! Sorry if it seems like the dialogue is just following what goes on in the game, that's not what I intend to do for most of this story; I just felt like there wasn't as much space for creative dialogue in the opening scenes, as the game's dialogue serves to introduce the characters well. As the story progresses, and I get to know the characters more and more, I'll be straying further and further away from the standard in game dialogue and adding my own! Thanks for reading, and please leave comments (good or bad!) **


	2. Chapter 1 - West of Ylisstol

**A/N: So here's chapter 1! (or technically, chapter 2). I'm flattered by the views, and hopefully this one improves on the first chapter! Like I said before, as the story progresses, I'll be straying further and further away from the game's dialogue and lines, and focusing more on what happens in between the game scenes. As of now, I feel like there haven't been enough characters to really get a grasp on how I want the characters to develop, but that should all change as the next few chapters seem to introduce quite a few characters. Again, please R&amp;R, any comments/suggestions are helpful! **

**-unicornkaskade**

* * *

Chapter 1: West of Ylisstol

Night slowly crept over the four travelers, and they were forced to break camp as it engulfed the day. Lissa had been complaining constantly of the dark, and was ecstatic about stopping.

"I told you! It's getting dark already! And now the bugs are out! And they're-BLECH! WAN GOPH IN MAH MOUPH! CAWOM!"

Chrom's only response was a hearty laugh that forced him to sit to calm himself. When he had finally regained his composure, he prepared to set off to get firewood. Azemar at this point became aware of his empty stomach. "We should probably think about food. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!" A loud groan coming from Azemar's general gut area affirmed it, and Chrom broke down laughing again. Ever the serious one, Frederick suggested that Azemar go with Chrom to collect firewood and hunt, while he stayed with Lissa to set up the rest of the campsite.

As Chrom headed out, Azemar followed closely behind. Once they were in a thick clearing of trees, Chrom drew Falchion, and began hewing wood off of the tree trunks.

"Got. A. Sword. To. Help. Me. Out," Chrom managed to grunt out the question between powerful hacks at the trees.

"Oh, er, yes, actually," and with that, he drew a long, curved, cutlass-like sword from a sheath within his robes. Chrom's eyes widened at the sight of it, and he stopped mid-strike to gape at the sword.

"That's..that's Balmung," Chrom managed to gasp in his amazement. "How did you come by it?"

Azemar himself was unaware of the name of his blade, and he was not any wiser about its history.

"I dunno, I guess I've always had it? What's so special about it," he asked Chrom, nonplussed.

"It's one of the swords of legend! I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime.." Chrom stopped, an idea forming in his head.

"Wait! Did you see that," Azemar narrowed his eyes at the large shadow that had darted across his field of vision. From what he had seen, it was a large animal, and that meant dinner. All business, he crouched low and waited for another sighting to be sure that the beast was still in their vicinity. Chrom, aware that Azemar had noticed something, quieted down as well. Suddenly, the shadow flitted across again, and Azemar had thrown Balmung at where it would be. A muffled roar was heard, and Azemar smiled to himself and his stomach. Dinner.

By the time they returned with firewood and copious amounts of bear meat, the campsite had been properly set up, and Frederick quickly set about setting up a fire so that the hungry travelers could eat. Chrom and Azemar watched eagerly as the meat cooked, and could hardly wait to put the fresh meat in their mouths. Azemar heard Chrom and Lissa arguing about why bear meat should or shouldn't be eaten, but he was so focused on filling his empty stomach that he didn't follow the conversation. He smiled as he thought to himself that this was an apt time to say that he couldn't even remember the last time he ate, but then he remembered Frederick's reaction to his amnesia and decided against saying it out loud.

Soon, with full stomachs (at least for Chrom and Azemar; Frederick had mysteriously refused to eat the meat, citing a large lunch), they lay down to sleep. The last sparks of the fire crackled and popped, giving out their dying flames, and soon the sounds of gentle snoring confirmed that the four were asleep.

* * *

Later that night, Chrom was woken by a sense of unease. _Huh_, he muttered, more to himself than anything. Lissa turned, woken up by her brother's movements. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she looked up to her older brother and asked, "What's wrong?"

Chrom couldn't say for certain; all he knew was that his gut was warning him of something. "I'm going to have a look around," he whispered, careful of waking Frederick and Azemar.

"I'll go with you," Lissa volunteered. Chrom smiled, glad to have the company, and the two trudged off deeper into the forest.

Deeper in the forest, the darkness seemed to come ever closer. Chrom suddenly stopped, and so did Lissa.

"Odd, what happened to all the crickets chirping," Lissa asked.

"Something is wrong here…" Chrom mused, gripping Falchion ever tighter.

Lissa was about to ask Chrom what exactly was wrong again, when the ground shook suddenly, violently beneath them, knocking them off their feet.

"Lissa, RUN," Chrom yelled. "I'll be right behind you!" The two sprinted as quickly as they ever had in their lives, watching as the earth behind them cracked and split in two, leaving a giant chasm the spewed out lava.

_Oh gods. Lava. _Chrom urged Lissa to keep running, ignoring the fireballs that rained down throughout the forest. They jumped down a small cliff and hid under the ledge until they stopped feeling the ground quaking with the impact of the fireballs. After a while, they stepped out of their shelter, and Lissa pointed to the sky.

"Chrom, what is that?!" A shape similar to an eye, with a light blue iris, had suddenly appeared in the crimson night sky. From the pupil in the middle, odd, gray-purple creatures were materializing and dropping down into the forest. Two of them landed in front of Chrom and Lissa.

"Ungraaaaaaah...graaaaa" Four beady red eyes settled on Chrom.

"Lissa, stay back." Falchion was out of its sheath, begging to be swung. One charged at Chrom, and he effortlessly swung through its chest, as the creatures were slow moving and easy to hit. The thing walked past him and seemed to stumble a bit. Then, the head did a _complete twist_, as if mocking Chrom, and the body turned to continue its assault. _Well then, I guess I have to cut the head off_. Chrom parried a strike from the thing's axe, and swung Falchion in an arc at the thing's neckline. Its head plopped off, and the body slowly crumpled into a mass of quickly evaporating purple smoke.

"What in the hells.." Before he could finish his thought, a shrill scream cut through the air. "Lissa!" Chrom sprinted through the now destroyed foliage towards the scream, seeing the other of the two creatures backing Lissa into a corner. _I can't get there fast enough...oh gods, please no.. _Suddenly, another figure began appearing out of the eye; this figure was clad in blue, and wore a mask concealing his face. He leapt down, and just as Lissa had closed her eyes to accept her fate, swung his sword between her and the creature, just barely blocking the strike. Barely able to hold back the creature's strength, the young man called over to Chrom.

"A little help here?"

"Right." Chrom readied Falchion, and just as he approached, the masked man pushed the creature back, and the two of them swung at the monster.

It collapsed into a heap of gray dust and purple smoke, just like the other, as Chrom and the masked swordsman stared at each other. Both had attacked with the same technique, and both had made the exact same backhand flourish of their blades after the kill.

"That was quite an entrance. What's your name?" Chrom questioned the masked man, whose back was turned to him and Lissa. Before he could reply, footsteps could be heard approaching, and an out of breath Azemar and Frederick appeared from the forest.

"Milord! Milady! Is everything all right?" Frederick managed to gasp out, before his eyes focused on a mostly unharmed Chrom and Lissa. "No one is injured, then? Thank the gods…"

Azemar's eyes scanned the now-barren forest and the battleground, analyzing the new enemies. They seemed to be slow moving, but powerful, and without any real sense of strategy. _Aha! There were two abandoned forts they could use to their advantage._

"Alright, Chrom, Frederick, we're each going to try to take shelter in one of those forts; there's two of them, and we're much closer and faster than those creatures, so we should be able to get there first. Once there, we can defend from inside." He sprinted off without another word, as Chrom and Frederick did the same towards the other abandoned fort.

Suddenly, a red-haired cavalier on her mount burst on the scene.

"Captain Chrom! I'm coming! Alright, you ash-faced freaks! Which one of you wants to try my lance for size? I know just the place for it, shoved right up your-" Before she could finish the obscenity she was clearly about to yell, a man's voice interrupted.

"Hold, milady! Life may be long, but attraction is fleeting. Allow me to introduce the legend himself, the one and only-"

The cavalier sighed as the man came into view. He had light blue hair, somewhat similar to Azemar's but a little more grayish, and a bow was slung across his shoulder. "Sorry, fancy boy, but my lord is in danger. Hyah!" She kicked her horse towards the action.

"Wait! Virion! Er..my name. It's Virion," the man said, surprised at the lack of swooning from the girl. "Will you marry me, sweet Sully? 'Twould brighten up every day of my life, to spend my every moment with you."

"FINE. Anything to shut you up," Sully replied, mortified as Virion took advantage of this to climb onto her horse behind her and grip her waist. "Captain Chrom! I'm here to help," she yelled as she approached the scarred battlefield. All of the creatures had been accounted for by Chrom, Frederick, and Azemar, with Lissa patching them up as they made their way towards the leader of these creatures.

"Sully! Who's the blue guy? Never mind, help us out with this last one," Chrom yelled back. As they approached the chief, it slowly moved towards them.

"What ARE you," Azemar asked. The only reply he got from the red-eyed monster was a slow, long growl.

"RYAAAARRGGHH...nh….aaaghhhh," came out of the creatures mouth. _I guess it doesn't talk_, Azemar absentmindedly thought to himself. "Chrom! Frederick! Let's finish this." He drew the Balmung, and swung in unison with Falchion, the two strikes neatly splitting the creature into thirds, while Frederick's lance had replaced its mouth and what was left was embedded with Sully's lance and Virion's arrows.

_So what exactly are these things? _Azemar wondered. _Could they be the dead reanimated? Who would be capable of such sorcery, and why would they spring it here? _

"Milord! It seems the rest of the creatures are vanquished, thanks to this young man." Frederick had returned with the masked man from earlier who had saved Lissa. Chrom stepped forward to acknowledge his deeds.

"You saved my sister's life, and for that I am grateful. My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?"

"You may call me...Marth." The young man's hesitation in his name was suspicious, but only the tactician caught it. _That sounded like he was..making up a name for himself. Hm.._

The name seemed to have an effect on everyone else. "Marth? After the heroic king of old?" Chrom was clearly curious at this revelation, but the masked man was not one for discussion.

"I'm not here to talk about me. I'm here with a warning. This world teeters at the brink of complete and utter calamity." And with that, the masked man turned and walked away. The group's eyes followed him until he was swallowed up by the remainder of the barren forest.

Ever the voice of reason, Frederick spoke up. "We should make haste for the capital. No doubt milord and milady are concerned about whether the fallout from this has reached it." Everyone agreed, and they set off again down the path towards the capital.

"Ah, Azemar, I don't believe you've met Sully here," Chrom said, pointing towards the red-haired cavalier from earlier. "And this is..err..Sully, who the heck is that?"

Her face flushing, Sully managed to mumble out, "His name's Virion. He followed me..but he did help us with the fight."

"I see. Well, as I told Azemar, anyone who risks their lives for Ylisse is a friend of mine. Feel free to stay with out company, Virion."

"Why, of course! Anything, for more time with my dear, sweet Sul-" Virion's voice was muffled by what sounded ominously similar to a boot being stuffed in his mouth, and Azemar sniggered a little bit to himself. He was enjoying this group, and beginning to think that maybe, despite recent events, he had found some friends he felt comfortable with. _Friends…_

* * *

They had finally reached Ylisstol.

"Wow..I've never seen this many people before," Azemar inadvertantly thought out loud. He saw Chrom turn and smile wryly at Azemar's innocence.

"Yes, this is quite the busy city. Ah! The Exalt, Emmeryn, has come out." Chrom gestured towards a tall, elegant woman dressed in light green robes, who stood on a balcony and waved to the masses below her.

_She does give off an aura of elegance and peace,_ Azemar thought to himself. As if reading his thoughts, Chrom addressed him again.

"Yes, the Exalt is a symbol of peace. Long ago, the fell dragon reigned, but the first Exalt allied with the divine dragon to vanquish it. Emmeryn now symbolizes the peace that they fought for."

Azemar quietly internalized this tidbit of information. "Then the Ylissean people are lucky to have her."

"She's also the best big sister a person could have," Lissa gushed suddenly. Azemar turned and smiled at the young girl.

"I'm sure she is..wait, what? She's your...but..that means..oh gods!" He stopped in his tracks at the implications of what Lissa had just said, and bowed before Chrom and Lissa. "P-prince Chrom! Princess Lissa! Sire! Please, forgive my dread-" He looked up to see Chrom guffawing, and Lissa had walked to the side of the road to lean against a building for support while she laughed.

"Just Chrom is fine, I've never really cared for formalities," Chrom said.

_Heh, that explains why Frederick tolerates all the teasing. _At the end of this thought, Azemar looked up and saw that they were at the gates of the castle.

"It looks like Emm is just getting in. Would you like to meet her, Azemar?"

* * *

The four of them, Azemar, Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa, slowly entered the throne room.. Sully had returned home, bidding them farewell before they had entered the castle, with Virion hot on her heels. Once they caught sight of the Exalt, Azemar bowed deeply in a show of respect. The Exalt opened her mouth to speak, and everyone in the room help their silence as they awaited her.

"Chrom! Lissa! Oh, and good day, Frederick. How fared you all?"

Chrom answered her, after a quick hug. "Well-we shouldn't be having any bandit problems anytime soon. Our people are safe, but the brigands we faced held Plegian accents; we must stay alert."

"I see. Thank you, Chrom. And who is this visitor you have brought?"

_Am I supposed to speak now? What do I say? Oh gods, someone throw me out of this room…_

Luckily, Chrom saved the suddenly mute Azemar.

"This is Azemar. He fought bravely with us, and it is my idea that he should join the Shepherds."

"A-ahem." A loud cough echoed through the hall, courtesy of Frederick.

"Milady Exalt, I must speak on this matter. This man claims to have lost his memory, but it is only that: a claim. There is no way of knowing whether he is true to his word or if he is," at this point Frederick's glare returned and placed itself squarely on Azemar, who shuddered, "a Plegian spy, sent to infiltrate our borders."

Emmeryn did not seem fazed by any of this, much to Azemar's relief. She turned back to Chrom. "Yet you allowed this man into our castle and our city. Does he have your trust?"

"Yes. Undoubtedly," was the reply.

"Very well then. It seems you have gained my brother's trust, and by extension, mine."

Azemar bowed deeply again. _Thank goodness, I was beginning to worry that she would take Frederick's side.._

"Milady. I cannot thank you enough for accepting me."

"Of course. Chrom, we are about to hold council. Would you join me," Emmeryn asked.

"Yes, Emm. I do have some news to break as well.." and with that, the two headed off. After they were out of earshot, Lissa jumped up and grabbed Azemar's hand.

"C'mon, there's a place I want to show you," she exclaimed, and before Azemar could protest, he had been pulled away with surprising force.

_I guess I have nothing to do here, so I might as well follow her wherever she's going…_

* * *

**Phew, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. I'm not really satisfied with this..but I want to get to the later stages of the game where more characters are introduced and I can play around more with their personalities bouncing off of each other (mostly the characters' personalities bouncing off of the Avatar/Azemar. Thanks for reading, and please if you have time R&amp;R!**

**-unicornkaskade**


	3. Chapter 2 - Shepherds

**A/N: Here's the third chapter! Been trying to churn them out quickly; it's been good to see that there have been lots of views, but no reviews! :( if possible, please leave a short comment! Any feedback helps, and I promise I'll read them all and keep them in mind when I write future chapters/fanfics (if I do). I wasn't a huge fan of this chapter, as there wasn't much beyond introducing characters, and I don't plan to focus on too many characters in the overall story, so bear with me. Anyways, enjoy, R&amp;R!**

**-unicornkaskade**

* * *

Chapter 2: Shepherds

It didn't take long for Lissa to reach her destination. They went down a few flights of stairs and down some hallways, until reaching a large room full of weapons and armor.

"Here we are! The Shepherds' Garrison," Lissa proclaimed loudly. A girl in purple armor, with light, grayish-brown hair, and a topless man with rippling muscles stood up, pausing to see the newcomers.

"Lissa, my treasure! Are you all right," a high pitched voice trilled across the room as a young girl in pink garb ran across the room to embrace Lissa.

Lissa hastily responded, "Yes, yes, I'm fine, Maribelle, you worry too much," while rolling her eyes at Azemar, who chuckled.

_I guess that one's Maribelle. _

"Yo, squirt! Where's Chrom? I bet he missed ol' Teach and his axe out there last night!" _Ah. Of course, the muscle man who seems more braun than brains. His name is..Teach?_

"Oh, so you're 'Teach', now, are you? I didn't know you could teach a lack of brains, Vaike!" _Oh. He just calls himself Teach, his name is Vaike. _

"Ha! Never doubt the Vaike!" _He refers to himself in the third person? Definitely all braun and no brains. Heh. Maybe I should tell him it was an insult.._

"Er..Vaike, was it? I think Lissa meant that as an insult." Everyone broke down laughing for a while, and after things settled down, the girl in purple armor spoke up, her voice slightly concerned.

"Beg pardon, but when might we see the Captain? I've been worried about him-er, I mean all of you who were out, and I just wanted to make sure everyone's okay," she quickly corrected herself, flushing an unhealthy shade of red. Azemar made a mental note of this; perhaps he could use this to tease Chrom when he didn't get his way.

Vaike pointed at Azemar. "So, who's the new guy, Lissa?"

Lissa pushed Azemar forwards. "Allow me to introduce: Azemar! He's our new tactician, and he's AMAZING in battle. He knows so much about how to fight!"

Vaike, never one to be outdone, quickly thought of one way he would be superior to the newcomer. "Well, can he burp his ABCs?"

Azemar smiled inwardly. "I'm sure I have much to learn in the art of belching, but….BURPP."

Vaike was dumbfounded; all he could do was offer a meek "Oh. Wow."

Maribelle, however, was much more articulate with her response, rushing towards Azemar with her parasol and hitting him with a resounding _smack. _

"AZEMAR. I had hoped you were cut from finer cloth, but it seems you engage in the same disgusting and revolting acts as Vaike here, who even in the presence of women REFUSES to put a shirt on." And with that, she huffily exited the room, and as she did, Chrom entered. At this, the girl in purple jumped up.

"Captain! You've returned! I was- I mean we were so-" Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by her slipping on a stack of papers that were on the floor, and her face hit the floor with a _thud._

"Sumia! Are you all right? ..Those boots of yours again?" _So this was a regular occurence..? And her name was Sumia. _

"No! I mean, yes! I mean.." Sumia sighed loudly, and desperately held her hands up to her face to cover the bright pink tone that it was starting to take on. _Heh, Chrom seems completely oblivious to the situation. I might have to rememdy that later, _Azemar thought to himself with a mental smirk.

"Anyways, we'll be marching to Regna Ferox in the morning. Azemar, I know you want to ask, it's to the North. They're a kingdom populated by warriors, and we're going to need their help to fight off this new threat. Now, keep in mind, this is a strictly voluntary mission, so-"

"Teach will be there!" So Vaike was in.

"Yea, big brother! I'll be there too." Lissa, too.

Sumia stood there, shuffling her feet and looking downcast. "I, I, um.."

"Yes, Sumia?" Chrom looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, Captain! I..um...I'm just not sure if I'm quite ready for a real mission. I don't want to get in your way, you know?"

Chrom thought about it for a second, before turning to Azemar. "What do you propose we do?"

_What, why's he asking me? Hm...is there a way for her to safely be with the group without actually being involved in fighting?_

"Azemar?" Chrom shook him on the shoulder, and Azemar realized he'd kind of gone into a trance. Or, more accurately, he had spaced out while thinking.

"Er..she could stay behind the main group, so she can watch if a battle is fought? How does that sound, Chrom?"

"Hm. Yes, that seems like the best solution. Just stay by me, Sumia, and you'll be fine."

Sumia was, needless to say, ecstatic at this suggestion. "Oh! Yes! Of course-I mean, yes, sir, as you command." She turned away again, presumably because her face had now gone from a bright pink to a deep red.

"Well, then I guess it's settled. I'll see you all tomorrow morning." With that, Chrom headed out. Once Chrom left, sniggers started going through the room, starting with Lissa.

"Oh, Sumia, you should have seen your FACE! I wonder if my brother has any idea how much you like him..knowing him, he probably doesn't." Sumia only turned a deeper shade of red than she had before, which Azemar hadn't thought possible. Smiling, he joined the small group and their incessant ribbing of Sumia for her very obvious love interests, before they all retired to their beds. _I should also make a mental note to not tell Lissa anything..she seems gossipy. __  
_

Azemar had been given a room in the garrison, as part of the standard Shepherd-provided room and board. As it was new, and he had no money, it was relatively empty, but he found himself relaxing and almost instantly asleep, dreaming of what the next day could bring.

* * *

The next day brought drowsiness, as he was shaken awake after what seemed like definitely not enough sleep. Vaike had a hand on his shoulder, and was yelling at him.

"Wake up! C'mon, it's almost time to go! Teach doesn't have time to wait for you, and neither do the rest of the Shepherds. Get up, man!"

Brushing off Vaike, Azemar groggily got out of bed. He hadn't changed, as he had no other clothes; his robe would have to do until he could get some coin to buy at least a pair of pajamas. He headed out into the sun to find the rest of the group waiting for him, and once they saw him, they began the march.

Along the way, he met a couple of the other Shepherds who had not been present the night before. Stahl, a cavalier like Sully, but with green armor instead of red, and Miriel, whose words gave Azemar a headache after he had initially tried to converse with her. Vaike, or "Teach", was in the convoy, and so was Sully, with Virion still pursuing her and jabbering nonstop in his flowery dialect. Stahl and Miriel were there, and, of course, Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa headed the group.

Soon, they had reached a field with a small stream in the middle. It would have been a nice field, if it wasn't teeming with..

"Risen!" Chrom shouted, and everyone stopped in their tracks to draw their weapons.

_What is a Risen, _Azemar thought, before his vision answered his question. A group of the red-eyed creatures from the forest crowded the otherwise beautiful field before him. He guessed that this is what Chrom had decided to call the monsters.

"Azemar! How do we line up?" Chrom again looked to him for advice.

_Hm, it's a large field, and we do have more even numbers this time..I'm also sure that we surpass them skill-wise; from what I remember, they seem to be slow moving and not very strategic; they'll simply attack who gets closest. So I should put…_

"Frederick! Vaike! You guys have the most strength; take the front lines with me and Chrom. We'll draw them out slowly; they seem to attack whoever's closest, so if we stay away from the ones across the river, we can split them into two groups."

As everyone lined up, Vaike suddenly yelped. "Where's my axe? Guys, I swear, I had it..where is it?" Chrom sighed next to Azemar, and he gathered that this wasn't an uncommon occurence, similar to Sumia's tripping. At about the same time, Miriel was muttering from the back of the group.

"Which ignoramus would leave his weapon lying on the ground seconds before a battle?" The axe was hurriedly passed up to Vaike, as the first group of Risen slowly closed in.

"Chaaarge!" The group advanced as a unit, melee units in the front, with ranged support courtesy of Virion and Miriel from the back. The first group of Risen was easily shredded, and they advanced towards the stream to finish off the last group. Azemar directed them to advance and finish off the rest, while he and Chrom moved forward to deal with the chief of this group.

"Ryarg..grahhh.."

"Yea, that's what your friend said last time too." Azemar stopped himself. He was taunting a Risen, which could most likely NOT understand him. Before he could marvel at the ridiculousness of it all, he saw a flash of blue to his right, and charged forward, parrying a strike from the creature's claws and waiting for the blue thunderbolt to hit, right through the head.

"Graah...guh…." The Risen chief dissipated into the air, and the rest of the Shepherds regrouped. None of them seemed to have any major injuries; as Azemar had suspected, the Risen were slow, and unless outnumbered, wouldn't have a chance against the more skilled Shepherds.

The group did not have much time to rest, and after a quick breather, with Lissa tending to any injuries as necessary, they got on the road again.

A while later, Azemar spotted a pegasus along the path.

"Well, what are you doing here? Chrom! There's a pegasus, wearing the armor of Ylisse, and it seems hurt!" The prince ran over to the tactician's voice.

"Hm, yes, it seems hurt. Let's see.." He reached over to examine the pegasus' body, but it whinnied loudly and reared on its legs, forcing Chrom to back off. "Whoa! Easy, girl, calm down!" Chrom fruitlessly tried to soothe the pegasus into letting him tend to its wounds, much to Azemar's amusement.

"You must be a hit with the ladies, Chrom; even a PEGASUS is rejecting you now, haha, heehee, oh, gods, I think my stomach's going to -"

"Captain! One moment!" Sumia's voice cut across Azemar's laughter, as she hurried to see what the commotion was. The rest of the Shepherds had stopped for a break further along the path, it seemed, and Sumia had come back to check on them. _Well, check on Chrom, more likely. _

"Sumia! Come no closer; this beast is crazed!" Chrom warned.

"It's okay, Captain. I can handle this." Sumia stepped slowly towards the pegasus as Chrom backed off. "Easy, now, I won't hurt you. Easy, easy." She gently petted the snout, and the pegasus nuzzled against her hair.

"H-how did you do that? Chrom's been trying forever, and it wouldn't even let him touch it!" Azemar was amazed.

"I..I dunno. I guess I just have a way with animals. You guys go on ahead. I'll dress up her wounds and then catch up."

Chrom had a look of concern on his face. "I don't feel comfortable leaving you here alone. We can make time to wait for you, if necessary, Sumia."

Sumia felt her face blush as she thought of the prospect of Chrom waiting for her, and them spending time together, but she realized the gravity of the situation outweighed her own daydreams. "Thank you, captain, but every moment is of the utmost importance right now. I will be fine."

Chrom nodded. "Right, then. Stay safe, Sumia." He waved goodbye and retreated towards the group of Shepherds waiting for his command, and Azemar followed.

"She really is something, huh," Azemar quietly muttered to Chrom with a wink.

"Yea…" Chrom's thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, and if it weren't for the sun, Azemar would have sworn that there was a slight flush to his face. _Possibly from Sumia? Oh, this is going to be good. _But his thoughts turned back to battle strategies as they returned to the group, and he looked at each Shepherd, considering the best ways to use each one of them and their abilities in possible fights to come.

* * *

**And there! This one was a bit shorter..not as much happening other than marching, really, and the characters that I want to really focus on haven't come in yet. The next chapter should be a lot more fun, so yea, if you didn't like this one, please bear with me, the next chapter will hopefully be much better! Please R&amp;R, and as usual, thanks for your time and attention! **

**-unicornkaskade**


	4. Chapter 3 - Warrior Realm

**A/N: huh. never mind when I said this chapter was going to be more fun, I probably meant the next chapter. this ones a lot shorter than I thought it would be, not much happening really, except the beginnings of ChromxSumia. I know, I know, it's always ChromxSumia, but in all honesty I think they're a great couple and they fit together better than any of Chrom's other romantic supports. Anyways, again, R&amp;R and enjoy! **

**Also, I've noticed a couple typos here and there in my previous chapters. To all you who may have also noticed, I apologize, and will try to keep those to a minimum. However, I can't promise to be perfect; accidents do happen, so please keep that in mind! **

**Thanks to the one follower, I really appreciate it 3**

**-unicornkaskade**

* * *

Chapter 3: Warrior Realm

Azemar looked around him, taking in the new surroundings. Being much further north, they had traded the warm Ylisstol sun for biting Feroxi cold. _Gods, I hope we get there soon before someone gets sick._

"Halt!" Chrom's command caused Azemar to look up, and he saw a long, stretching gate before him.

"I assume this fortress marks the border between Regna Ferox and Ylisse?" Azemar asked.

"Yes. But it looks like there may be trouble, milord," Frederick answered for Chrom, while peering towards the fort. "The Feroxi guard appears to be mobilizing."

At this, a figure in heavy armor peered down at the Shepherds.

"Who goes there? Present yourselfves! I am Raimi of the Feroxi guard, and I will not let unruly brigands and Plegian scum through these gates!" The figure shouted down at Chrom, who attempted a diplomatic approach.

"Milady, we were sent by Exalt Emmeryn to seek audience with the Khans! We mean you no harm," he yelled back over the harsh wind.

Raimi seemed to mull over the conclusion, when suddenly, four lancers appeared atop the fort and let fly their lances towards Chrom. Caught by surprise, he could only raise an arm to shield his face, and wait for the inevitable impact…

_No! Chrom! Gah, why did I let him advance by himself to address these idiots? _Azemar could only watch, stricken, helpless to prevent the death of his best friend, the man who had trusted him when few others would..

Suddenly, in a flash of feathers, Chrom was gone. The lancers looked confused, and so did the Shepherds, until they looked up and saw Sumia riding the pegasus that had just grabbed Chrom from death's grasp at the last possible second.

"S-Sumia," Chrom managed to blurt out.

Sumia turned and smiled at Chrom. "Better hold on tight, Captain. Could get bumpy." Chrom nodded his assent, then realized there was nothing to grab on to..except Sumia's waist. Azemar made a mental note to rib Chrom of this at the next opportunity. _Which is NOT now_, he reminded himself. Sumia landed amongst the Shepherds again, and they prepared to attack the Feroxi guard.

Azemar quickly surveyed the battlefield as the others awaited his command, something that was becoming a regularity.

Soon, the battle began, and the crack of magic could be heard accompanying the clash of steel. The Shepherds were careful to incapacitate, rather than kill, finishing strikes with the handle or the flat of their weapons rather than the business end. Azemar had them split into two groups, one to attack from each side of the fort and work their way up towards Raimi so they could isolate her in a pincer movement.

They had finally reached Raimi. Chrom winked at Azemar, and took off in a dash towards Raimi. The stalwart knight made no attempt to even parry Chrom's strike, watching as it bounced harmlessly off her plate armor.

"Ha! You'll need to do better to best me, 'Prince'," she sneered.

"Oh don't worry, it's already over. Azemar, now!"

"Fire!" A ball of fire shot towards Raimi, incinerating her armor and softening it enough that Falchion was able to make an audible _crack _when it connected. Raimi's face went from one of contempt to one of shock, and then quickly one of fear. No one had penetrated her armor before. Chrom took advantage of her distraction to deftly knock away her javelin, and force her to the ground.

"Yield. Now." Chrom had his blade at the knight's throat, and was keeping an eye on the other forces of the Feroxi guard, who were slowly beginning to get up and nurse their numerous wounds.

"I yield. Forgive me for my rashness. With the brigand problem, I thought it only prudent to assume the worst...anyways, I will escort you to the capital and send word of your arrival to the khans personally. It is the least I can do," the felled knight said.

Azemar helped her up, nodding his head in gratitude, and the knight was off.

"Well, that was an interesting battle, eh, Chrom?"

Chrom turned to face his tactician.

"Yes; it's amazing how quickly a beaten Feroxi's demeanor can change.." Chrom muttered to himself.

Azemar put a hand on Chrom's shoulder, a glint in his eye. "Oh, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about your _pegasus ride_ earlier. You seemed to be holding on pretty tightly, you know. Just saying."

"Oh, shut up." Chrom turned away, trying to hide his blush from his friend.

"That's not a very noble thing to say, _Milord_," Azemar shot back.

"Azemar? If you want to live, stop talking. Now."

Fortunately for Chrom, Frederick stepped in.

"If this fascinating conversation is over, perhaps the two of you could help set up camp for the night. We'll be meeting the khans tomorrow."

* * *

The small group had decided to camp near the Longfort, within an hour's march of Castle Ferox, the capital. Sully had been on cooking duties, and the result was quite terrible. Azemar winced as he remembered the taste of the "stew" that he had been forced to eat for dinner. _I'm not even sure it was edible...hopefully my stomach won't act up later. Gods, that would be embarrassing._ Most of the other Shepherds had gone to sleep by then, forced to stay in their tents by the bitter cold of Feroxi weather. Azemar, however, decided to read one of the books he had brought from Ylisse. He had found many books on tactics and strategies, and seeing as they were heading to Regna Ferox, he had brought a few on Feroxi history and battle strategies. He smiled to himself as he opened the dusty tome and settled comfortably on his bed, the candle wax still fresh and ready to burn for as long as he needed it to.

He awoke the next day in the same position, having fallen asleep halfway through reading. Chrom was busy getting everyone in order for marching.

"Shepherds! Be ready to march to Castle Ferox in an hour."

* * *

**And there! Like I mentioned, not much going on except for a little skirmish and some camp life insight. I'll be doing more and more of these types of chapters, rather than the ones before that focused on the storyline, as I get more characters to integrate and more personalities to play with. **

**I wanted to portray a busy, bustling campsite, and with the current crew, I just don't really like how they gel together. **

**Again, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! **

**-unicornkaskade**


	5. Chapter 4 - Two Falchions

**A/N: here's chapter 4! you'll notice I took a lot more liberties with this one; it's really the first one where I felt I could stray from the game template. Hopefully, this will be the start of a trend, as more characters get introduced. As for those who are looking for the romance, it'll come! Cordelia isn't in until chapter 7, and I'm not sure how I'm going to set the two characters up, but don't worry, it's coming soon.**

**-unicornkaskade**

* * *

Chapter 4: Two Falchions

They had arrived at Castle Ferox. Raimi escorted Chrom, Frederick, Lissa, and Azemar into the throne room, where she bid them wait while she summoned the khan.

"Heh, I bet the khan's big and buff..probably a stronger, smarter version of Vaike," Azemar said out loud to no one in particular. Chrom snickered at this.

"Well, I've never met the khan myself, but that would be a good guess. I don't know about the whole smarter part, though, after our encounter at the fort."

"Sorry, but what's a Vaike?" A deep voice came out from where Raimi had exited moments earlier. Yes, it was deep, but it was definitely female.

_Is this the khan? I hope she really doesn't know who Vaike is..and I really hope she didn't hear what Chrom said._

"Khan Flavia. These Ylisseans have requested audience with you," Raimi stated while saluting swiftly.

"Of course. How may I be of service, Prince?" Flavia addressed Chrom directly.

"Khan Flavia, I'm sure you're aware of the brigand uprising? And, more importantly, of the Risen that have begun to swarm over the lands? Exalt Emmeryn sent me to request Feroxi aid in quelling these threats." Chrom made the request while bowed.

"Yes, I guessed that would be why you came. However, as much as I would like to help, I'm afraid I cannot spare you any troops as of now. I lack the authority to do so."

Chrom and Azemar glanced at each other.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Aren't you the khan?" Azemar himself had no idea what was going on. _She was khan, why did she have no authority? _

Flavia laughed lightly as she enlightened them of the two khan system that Regna Ferox went by. "Unfortunately, I lost the last tournament, so that big oaf of a man called Basilio has complete control. However, fortune smiles upon you. There IS another tournament tomorrow…" Flavia scratched her chin in thought. "Yes, I think that would work. If you fight for me in the tournament tomorrow, and you can defeat Basilio's champion, then you will have your aid."

Azemar nodded. He could see where this was going. They had no choice but to fight in this tournament, if they were to secure the aid that Ylisse desperately needed, and he was sure Chrom saw this as well.

"Very well. We shall represent you in this tournament."

"Ha! I love you guys already. I will show you the arena where the battle will take place. I must say, I am quite looking forward to seeing your skills with the blade!" With that, Flavia turned and jaunted off towards another hallway, with Chrom and Azemar following. Frederick and Lissa turned to head back to the camp, to tell the other Shepherds of the plan.

* * *

After getting a good look at the tournament grounds, Chrom and Azemar bid Flavia farewell and headed back towards the Shepherd's camp.

"So, what do you think, Azemar?"

"It's pretty much an even playing field; there aren't any obstacles or objectives that we can use to our advantage. This is one fight where my tactics won't be as important, I'm afraid."

Chrom dipped his head in agreement. "I thought so as well. It seems that it will be exactly what Khan Flavia told us: a fight to determine who is the most skilled. In that case, we shouldn't have any problem. However, we can only bring 6 troops in. Have you considered who we should enlist?"

"Not yet. We'll have a strategy meeting later, when I've decided." Azemar quickly ran through what they would need. Of course, he and Chrom would be present. Frederick was by far the next most skilled in combat, so he would definitely be there. As for the other three..Azemar quickly pushed the thought away for the time being as they neared their camp. He headed for his tent to read more on Feroxi strategy; perhaps that would give him more insight as to how to plan for the battle to come…

* * *

A knock on his tent flap jolted Azemar from his reading.

"Come in," he hastily replied.

Sumia began walking through the tent flap. "Oh, hello, Azemar! I was just letting you know that dinner's going to be ready soon and-whoa!" Unsurprisingly, Sumia had tripped again. Luckily, Azemar had the presence of mind to reach out and stop her fall before she hit the ground, and she nodded her thanks before resuming. "Er..yes. Dinner will be ready soon," she said again, clearly embarrassed. Azemar smiled at her in response, and quickly let her know that he would be out soon, he just needed to finish this chapter. In truth, he was mulling over wht he had read, and how to use the new information. _It looks like they'll prefer more melee units with a couple of mages to support...then we should counter with…_

* * *

After dinner, Azemar called for a strategy meeting between him, Chrom, and Frederick, in which he outlined his plans. Chrom was to pair up with Sumia; her pegasus could cover much more ground than anyone could on foot, allowing Chrom to isolate whoever the enemy champion and engage them in a duel. Azemar would pair up with Kellam, who could provide a stellar defense while backed up by Azemar's magic damage, and lastly, Frederick would pair up with Lissa, keeping the necessary presence of a healer but also protecting her with one of their most able soldiers.

"Sounds good, Azemar. Now get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning," Chrom said, and the meeting was adjourned. Azemar headed back to his tent to gather his thoughts and prepare for the next day's battle, but soon found himself flopped on his cot and slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

Early the next morning, Azemar, Chrom, Frederick, Sumia, Kellam, and Lissa gathered while the others were still asleep. No words were spoken between them, as each knew the gravity of the situation. Within a few minutes, they were at the gates of the arena, and the tournament was about to begin. Feroxi mages cast spells to blunt the edges of their blades, so that they could not kill, and then there was nothing left to do but wait. With a rusty _clang_, the gates opened, and the six of them stepped out into the arena to see who their challengers would be.

"Chrom! Look!" Azemar pointed at the other other side of the ring. There, standing, was a familiar masked man…

"Marth. I should have guessed," Chrom mused. He stepped forward, motioning the others to stay back, and Marth did the same.

"Marth! One question, before this all begins." Marth's only reply was to draw his sword. "Very well then. Let our blades do the talking," Chrom muttered, as he drew Falchion into a ready stance. Marth was in his own ready stance, eerily similar to Chrom's and as Chrom noticed this, he also noticed that Marth's sword looked exactly like his. Azemar's eyes widened at this. Chrom had told him there was only one Falchion, so why did it seem like this other warrior wielded one as well?

Without further ado, Chrom charged at Marth, somersaulting through the air and bringing down Falchion with immense strength. Marth brought up his blade, parrying the strike, and pushing Chrom back with the force of his guard. The two continued to fight, while the rest simply watched, mesmerized by the epic duel before their eyes. With breathtaking speed, metal clashed on metal, sparks flew and danced through the air, and yet neither could land nary a blow on the other.

Azemar watched with baited breath, while the analytic in him couldn't resist but to study. _They fight with the exact same style...moves I've only seen Chrom use in battle, this mercenary has used as well. How is it that he knows the arts of the Exalted bloodline?_ He snapped himself back to reality. _There's still a battle to fight; I can think about these later. _"Kellam! Frederick! Lissa! Sumia! Let's go," he yelled at his fellow Shepherds. As Azemar had predicted, most of the enemy relied on brute strength in close quarters; Kellam's armor easily withstood any blows, and lightning crackled from Azemar's tome and Frederick's lance knocked out the axe-wielding Feroxi as they approached. The mages, seeing their melee wall decimated in short order, could only flee so far in the ring, and soon the Feroxi force was defeated, save for Marth. Azemar turned his eyes back towards the duel in the middle of the ring.

"Tell me, Marth. Who taught you to fight like that?" Chrom managed to ask out between furious parries.

Marth paused for a moment before finally replying: "My father!" With that, he leapt into the air once more, but this time, Chrom was ready for it. He sidestepped neatly at the last possible second, and in the split second that Marth had to recover from gravity, smashed the pommel of Falchion into Marth's head, knocking him out instantly. The dust settled, and Marth collapsed to the ground, unconscious, with Chrom panting over him. With Marth's defeat, the Shepherds had emerged victorious.

"Aha! Well fought! You have my respect. More to the point, you have what you came for. I will provide Ylisse with the necessary forces to protect itself. But enough politics! It's been ages since I've ruled over Basilio - today is a day of celebration!" Flavia had come down from the stands in an outright jovial mood, and with that, sprinted off, presumably to set up the said celebrations.

The six stood there chuckling to themselves. "Kellam, Sumia, could you guys go back to camp and spread the good news? I'm sure they'll be curious to know how we fared today," Chrom said.

"Captain! Of course!"

"Oh! You saw me! Yes, of course, I'll do that straight away!" The two headed back out the gates towards the camp, and Chrom, Azemar, Frederick, and Lissa waved them off.

"Bah!" A sharp grunt behind them caught their attention. Any excuse for a party, and Flavia will jump on it." A tall, dark man with an eyepatch had approached them. His face bore an eyepatch, and his muscles rippled underneath his clothes.

Azemar allowed Chrom to initiate proceedings. He had found that this was a much easier way to meet people, as they were generally much more agreeable when they were talking to a prince.

"I'm sorry, have we met," Chrom asked the man.

"I'm the West-khan you so rudely removed from power!"

"Ah so you're the oaf...I mean, you're Basilio?"

"Ha! I see you've been listening to Flavia. Anyways, before you head home to Ylisse, I have a little present for you. Consider it West Regna Ferox's contribution to the war..since you all assumed that I wouldn't help." At this, a myrmidon stepped out from the shadows. He was lithe and slim, but his body gave off an aura of immeasurable talent and speed. "This is Lon'qu, my former champion. He's near peerless with a sword...I'm not even sure how Marth even bested him! But yes, I'd sooner kiss my own big, brown arse than find someone more able with a blade."

Azemar winced at the mental image his mind conjured up. Lissa took two steps towards the myrmidon, who instantly went beet red and jumped three paces backwards, yelling, "Away, woman!" At this, Basilio burst out laughing.

"Let's put it this way: Lon'qu's not your typical ladies' man. Anyways, he's your man now, boy." Basilio offered a hand to Chrom, who returned the handshake. "And Lon'qu, you agree to this arrangement?"

The myrmidon grunted in response. "You give orders. I stab our enemies. It's not complicated."

Chrom looked at a loss for words, so Azemar replied for him. "Sounds good. We'll get you settled in camp before we head back to Ylisse." Without further ado, they left the arena, towards the camp, and eventually back to Ylisse.

* * *

**And there! Another chapter completed. Please R&amp;R! **

**-unicornkaskade**


	6. Chapter 5 - The Exalt and the King

**A/N: I actually really liked how I depicted Gangrel in this one..although it is also possible I took his madness a bit overboard. Hopefully, you've started to see me deviate more and more from the script; its a work in progress. Got a couple reviews, so thanks to those two kind souls, and I hope to see more! **

**-Unicornkaskade**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Exalt and the King

Back home in Ylisse, Chrom and Azemar sought out Emmeryn to tell her the good news. However, halfway through, Phila, the Knight-Captain of the Ylissean pegasus knights, rushed into the room with dire news.

"Your Grace! The duke's daughter! Maribelle! She's been kidnapped by Plegians! Gangrel is requesting your presence at the border! What's worse, he seems to be insinuating that she attacked the Plegians!"

Chrom let out a primal growl at this. "He's clearly LYING! Emm, you can't be serious about going to meet him! They call him the Mad King for a reason!"

Emmeryn paused for a moment to think. "No, Chrom. I must go. We cannot abandon Maribelle, and we cannot risk Gangrel spreading false rumors and beginning a war."

Chrom made to protest, but Azemar put a hand on Chrom's shoulder to calm him down. _He needs to see the truth of Emmeryn's words. Much as I'd like to support you, Chrom, and put an end to those bastards, we need to stay prudent. _Chrom seemed to understand at least some of what Azemar was thinking, and relaxed.

"We'll need some of the Shepherds. It's a long march to the Plegian border, and we'll need to be armed in case of an ambush."

Azemar nodded his agreement, and set off to find some tome or another about Plegian warfare, much like he had done before the Feroxi battle.

* * *

Alone in his room, Azemar pored over text after text about Plegian battle histories. After the umpteenth book, he got up to catch a breath of fresh air. Exiting the castle, he saw Chrom talking to a young boy who couldn't have been more than fifteen years old.

"But Chrom, I'm old enough! You'll need my magic!" The young boy seemed to want to join them on the trip.

"Ricken, I'd feel more comfortable if your magic was here, protecting Ylisse." There was a finality to Chrom's tone that even the rebellious boy, Ricken, could sense, and he gave up on the point and slunk away.

"Ah, Azemar. What brings you out so late?" Chrom leaned against the railing, and to Azemar, it seemed as if he had aged considerably since hearing the news about Gangrel and Maribelle.

"Just catching some fresh air before I resume my studies, Milord. What brings you here?" Azemar narrowly dodged a slap at the formality. He knew how Chrom hated to be called Milord, and was hoping to lighten the mood a bit for his friend.

"Same; sometimes it seems like life rushes by so quickly, doesn't it? It's nice to be able to stand back and relax, and slow down sometimes. Although I fear we won't have much more opportunity if Gangrel gets what he wants…" The last bit seemed to be spoken to himself, rather than to Azemar.

"Yes, Chrom, but till the future comes, all we can do is live in the present and do what we can to make it what we want. Speaking of which, how's everything going with a certain pegasus knight?"

Chrom blushed at the thought of Sumia. "Oh, I don't know...I feel like we're just friends. But she's so beautiful...the way her hair flows in the wind when she's on her pegasus? And even the way she trips, there's something cute about that part of her too…" Chrom rambled on and on throughout the evening. Azemar groaned inwardly; he hadn't meant to come out and listen to Chrom list all the features about Sumia that he liked, but he felt that he should; the man had so precious few opportunities to smile, and he knew that talking of Sumia would lighten Chrom's mood before the march the next day. And so they chatted of women, weapons, and life, in a strikingly normal conversation that lasted until the candles grew dim and they bid each other goodnight.

* * *

The next day, the Shepherds (plus Virion; he had seemed to insert himself as a Shepherd, if only to follow Sully around) woke early to prepare to march to the Plegia/Ylisse border. They left at sunrise, and had reached the border pass at midday, to find the Mad King himself, with his lackey, a dark mage, next to him.

"BWA HAHA! The Exalt, in all her glory, is here!" Gangrel sneered at the oncoming convoy. "Now, I'll get straight to the point. This girl here," he said, gesturing at Maribelle, "attacked my innocent group of men! For simply no reason! Now, a misdeed like that, unwarranted violence, would take SIGNIFICANT reparations to fix! So, I'll get right to the point, your Luminence. The Fire Emblem. Now. Or she dies."

Emmeryn looked up at the Mad King. "I'm sorry, but the Fire Emblem cannot leave Ylisse. It is a symbol of peace, and must remain in Ylisse so that the Awakening can be performed if the fell dragon should arise again. Unless you have some greater purpose, I cannot part with it, Gangrel."

"Bleh! Your flowery speech confuses me! If you won't give me the Fire Emblem, then I'll just have to TAKE it! Go! Now!" Three Plegian warriors sprang up from the bushes, but the one in the lead was instantly felled by Falchion.

"One more step and you all meet the same fate!" Chrom yelled.

This only seemed to satisfy Gangrel even more. "Oooh, my little princeling, that sounds like a declaration of war if I've ever heard one! So be it, there will be a war! A war that will end in the grisly death of each and every Ylissean! Bwahahah! Orton! You know what to do! Aversa, finish off the girl, and let us be on our way. We have WAR to prepare for!"

Azemar clenched his fists, but there was nothing he could do; none of them could reach Maribelle in time, and he saw the Plegian troops behind Gangrel; there were far too many to try something rash. All they could do was watch and hope for a miracle..

The dark mage accompanying Gangrel, Aversa, turned to Maribelle and cooed at her. "Aww, you poor thing! If you hadn't gone berserk on our poor soldiers, maybe I wouldn't have to kill you now."

Maribelle struggled against the Plegian holding her down. "Liar! Craven! Buffoon! Half-educated, uncivilized-" Suddenly a boys voice came from behind her.

"Elwind!" A strong gust of wind blew Aversa and Maribelle's captors away from the girl. A pointy mage's hat appeared, and Azemar thought to himself, _I've seen that hat before..wait..Ricken! How did he get here?_ Aversa was caught by surprise, and tumbled unceremoniously into Gangrel's feet. Gangrel, however, didn't seem too troubled.

"Ha! That boy has nerve! Attacking my aide? Now we REALLY have a war! Captain Orton! Kill as many of these Ylissean wretches as possible and then report to me!" Gangrel laughed his mad laugh once more, and bound away up the pass.

Azemar's fists were still balled up in fury at what had happened, but he realized that he had to organize the Shepherds into a unit to defend Emmeryn and defeat the Plegian strike force that came at them. Azemar hurriedly yelled out formations to the Shepherds; it wasn't ideal fighting conditions, as the Plegians had the high ground and Ricken and Maribelle were caught in the middle, so they couldn't simply wait for the Plegians to come down. They had to bring the fight to them.

Azemar drew Balmung; his magic would be easily dodged because of their terrain advantage, so he would have to get into close quarters to do damage. He braced himself as he advanced with Chrom along the front lines.

Frederick and Lon'qu took care of the immediate Plegians; there were two mages, and Frederick nimbly dodged each bolt of lightning flying towards him to skewer one on the end of his lance. As the other mage saw his compatriot felled, he began running, only for Lon'qu to materialize behind him, his killing edge at the ready.

Chrom and Sumia were paired up again, and were fighting on the first ledge with Azemar.

"We need to get to the right! Ricken and Maribelle are going to get caught soon!" Azemar yelled as he parried a Plegian axe. "Sumia! Can you fly over and bring them away from the battlefield? They don't have any archers!"

"Of course, Azemar! Chrom, be safe," Sumia quickly flew towards the young boy and girl, flying them to safety in one trip before returning to Chrom's side. By the time she had returned, Falchion and Balmung had made short work of the Plegian forces left, and there was only the final wave of wyvern riders left to take care of. Azemar smiled to himself. From here, it was easy; the wyvern riders were easy to pick off with arrows, and for all of his shortcomings, Virion was an amazing archer; he simply did not miss. Azemar sheathed Balmung and turned to Virion, who was on Sully's horse as they caught up from behind.

"Virion, could you? There's a few fleas in the air that need to be dealt with."

"My pleasure, sir. Anything to keep these fleas away from milady Sully." He let fly, and three of the wyverns fell to the ground with arrows embedded in them, dragging their riders down with them. Now, there was only the captain left.

"Orton! Surrender, and we will spare you!" Chrom knew that if he killed Orton, then the war would really begin.

"Hah! Even if I die, Plegia will still get what it wants." Orton kicked his wyvern into motion, flying towards the Shepherds.

Azemar sighed to himself. _Always listening to reason, our enemies. _Virion readied his bow, and seconds later, Orton crashed down to the ground in front of them, his life ebbing away from the arrow holes in his chest.

"It..matters not. Soon..war...will be on your soil...Gangrel's wish will be realized…" His head slumped forward. He was dead.

A light cheer arose from the Shepherds, as there were no casualties. Lissa ran over to make sure Maribelle was okay, and Azemar did as well.

"Er...Maribelle? I'm glad you're..er..okay. I know you think of me as a cur, what with the burping, but really, I'm glad we were able to get you out of Gangrel's grasp." Azemar thought that sufficed for an apology, and he really didn't feel like staying for a lecture on how to act more nobly, so he hurriedly dashed away to help with mending injuries before the long trek back to Ylisstol.

As they walked back, Chrom was visibly distressed. Azemar had been in the back, amusedly eavesdropping on Virion and Sully's conversation, until he noticed Chrom alone in the front, head down and not talking to anyone. He sped up to catch up with his friend, worried about his state of mind.

"Chrom, what's on your mind?"

"Azemar. I'm just realizing that we'll most likely be going to war again...we'll have to go to Regna Ferox and ask Flavia for more troops."

"I see. War is war, but we will succeed, Chrom. Sometimes, it's necessary to fight to secure peace. I'm sure you know that."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Azemar."

"Anytime."

Azemar dropped back to fight with his own thoughts of the war that seemed inevitable, and soon lost himself in the drone of feet on dirt, and the sound of his own thoughts.

* * *

**And there! Done with that chapter. Next one should be interesting, as two more characters are introduced, so I'm really looking forward to that. Thanks for reading, and please leave comments! **

**-unicornkaskade **


	7. Chapter 6 - Foreseer

**A/N: Next chapter is up! I'm probably going to be taking a weeklong hiatus soon, as my MCAT is next Saturday and it's time to really get into go-mode and start mass reviewing. Again, please R&amp;R, thank you to the three followers! I've also decided to split this into two or three parts based on chronological order. Haven't really decided where to split, but I'm pretty sure after the war in Plegia will be one place to split. Any suggestions would be great, and as usual, enjoy! **

**-unicornkaskade**

* * *

It was well into the evening when they finally returned to Ylisse. The Shepherds bid each other farewell, and all scattered to their separate dwellings. Azemar was again one of the last Shepherds awake, diving deep into his tomes once more. He looked out the window, and saw a familiar tuft of blue hair standing outside in the courtyard. _Chrom. Maybe I should go see what's up with him. _Azemar shut the book, leaving a slip of parchment as a bookmark, and hurriedly put his cloak over his nightclothes and headed out.

Chrom did not seem to notice someone had joined him at all as he let out a deep sigh.

"Chrom? Is something wrong?" Azemar tried to play it calm, but his face betrayed his feelings of deep concern.

"Oh. Azemar. I thought you'd be asleep by now. I'm just..dueling with some unpleasant thoughts..anyways. There's something you should know. Gangrel's obsession with vengeance...there's a legitimate reason for it."

Azemar's eyebrows raised. "Oh yea?" Chrom proceeded to tell Azemar of his father, the last Exalt, who had waged a grisly war with the Plegians that nearly brought both Ylisse and Plegia to their respective knees.

"I see..and this is why your sister is so wary of fighting. Because the scars of the last war are still fresh, and she does not want a repeat of what happened those years ago..." Azemar shuddered at what Emmeryn had to go through when she first took the title of Exalt.

"Well spoken, sir." A voice said from behind them. Marth stepped out from behind a bush. Before they could question him, Marth put a hand up. "I got in through a cleft in the castle wall near the training grounds. I'm pretty sure someone was training a bit overzealously…" Marth couldn't help smiling to himself a little bit, as did Azemar.

"Heh, that was probably Chrom. He has a penchant for...destruction," Azemar said, before deftly sidestepping the fist that was coming for his gut.

"Anyways, I come with a warning. Tonight, an attempt will be made at Emmeryn's life." Azemar had heard the words, but believing was another thing. How did this man know? Chrom was similarly doubtful, as he narrowed his eyes at the masked man.

"You seem to claim to know an awful lot about the future, _Marth._"

Marth sighed. "Yes, I expected you would not believe me. To prove it...I'm going to save your life. From him." Marth drew his iteration of Falchion and waited. Seconds passed, and Azemar thought that Marth had lost his mind, but just before he was to speak out, a robed assassin flew out from another bush, dagger drawn and flying towards Chrom. A swipe of Falchion, and the assassin was dead.

"I trust this proof will suffice?" Marth wiped Falchion on the grass before sheathing it.

Chrom, clearly shaken, could only nod. Azemar had a million questions for Marth, but before he could get to any of them, another assassin dropped out of the tree above them, blade angled at Marth. He tried to step backwards to dodge the strike, but slipped on the slain assassin's blade and fell backwards enough to avoid the slash, but not completely; the sword cleanly sliced through his mask, revealing Marth's face and letting down a plume of blue hair. Chrom drew his Falchion and quickly dispatched of the sword, before turning to Marth, the shock in his face evident and also reflected in Azemar's eyes.

"Y-y-y..you're a woman?" Chrom blurted out.

"And quite the actress, too. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out till now." Apparently she was quite the sassy woman. Before Azemar could get back to his questions, there was a rumble from the castle.

"Emmeryn!" All three shouted in unison before sprinting towards the entrance.

* * *

They rushed into the throne room just in time to set up a quick formation; the castle corridors were to their advantage, as they were definitely more familiar with them than the assassins were. Azemar quickly yelled out instructions, leaving Marth to guard the door to the throne room while he split the rest into two groups to prevent them from being flanked. The thin corridors allowed Marth to take the assassins in the middle one at a time, and they proved no match for him. _Er, I mean, her._ They had soon defeated all of the assassins, and their leader, a mage clad in robes eerily similar to Azemar's advanced to do the job himself. He reached the throne room with his dark tome at the ready, only to find himself greeted by the blades and spells of the Shepherds.

Seconds later, he crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

* * *

They had gained two allies in the fight; Panne, the shape-shifter, and Gaius, the thief who had abandoned the assassins in return for candy. Chrom and Azemar scrambled into the throne room with the two new recruits to check up on the Exalt.

"Emm! Thank the gods you're safe!" Chrom breathed a sigh of relief at finding his sister unharmed and looking no worse for the wear.

"It is you I have to thank, Chrom. You and Azemar. And these two visitors are..?"

"Panne, milady. I am the last of my species."  
"Ah, the taguel. Your bravery will not be soon forgotten, Panne."

Azemar blinked. "Sorry, what's a taguel?"

"We are shape-shifters who have been hunted nearly into existence by you man-spawn. I only helped tonight because my warren owed Ylisse a great debt. Do not take this as friendship," Panne huffed, and walked off. The orange haired man then stepped forward.

"Gaius, Your Grace. I hear you have quite the array of sweets…Bubbles here was kind enough to share with me during the battle. Now, if I could get more sweets...they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and we all know where sweets go."

Emmeryn laughed, and promised Gaius that he could have as many candies as he wanted for his help that night.

"Aw yea! Bubbles, where's the rest of it?"

Azemar could hardly believe this man. "Er...I'll ask Lissa. Also, why do you keep calling me Bubbles? My name's Azemar."

"Alright, alright, Bubbles, I'll wait till tomorrow. But I except a handful of sweets tomorrow!"

Azemar sighed following the tuft of orange hair as it exited the room. A bitter shape-shifter who probably hated him because of his species, and an orange haired thief calling him Bubbles all the time? This was definitely going to be fun.

Chrom returned, having left to find Marth, and they quickly got back to business. It was decided that Emmeryn would stay in an auxiliary palace that the other kingdoms were unaware of while Chrom and the Shepherds marched to Regna Ferox for additional soldiers. Chrom had wanted Emmeryn to stay with them, but they all realized that if she left the town, it would be a troubling signal to the citizens of Ylisse. All nodded in assent, and they dispersed.

* * *

It was late, but Azemar still had energy to spare. He opened the book he had been reading before, "_Advanced Tactics for the Modern Mind"_, and continued where he left off, but he wasn't able to focus. _How had Marth predicted the future so accurately? _There had to be some explanation, but he couldn't quite figure out anything plausible. _Nothing really makes sense...ugh. All I can think of is that she can time travel, and came from the future, but that's impossible. No one can travel through time. But how does she know these things…._ His thoughts soon gave way to unconsciousness and darkness as he slipped off to sleep.

* * *

**This ones pretty short compared to the other chapters..I felt like battle scenes weren't as important this time around. Anyways thanks for reading, again, comments and pointers and advice are always appreciated!**

**-unicornkaskade**


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